Chapter Six: The Secret of the Prague Answering Chair

Andy was excited for a long while before he managed to re-enter a meditative state. As he slipped back into meditation, a colossal tree of flames appeared within his mental space: the Castillon Tree. Two mysterious runes danced joyfully around the giant tree—these were the models he had constructed for “Ignition” and “Cleansing.”

He didn’t attempt to construct any new witchcraft models; instead, he began to explore his innate gifts.

According to the records in Stein’s library, the rank of Junior Apprentice was the beginning of the wizard’s path. If a wizard was to awaken a soul talent, it usually occurred during the Apprentice stage. Very few wizards ever awakened such talents, and even when they did, not all were useful for the practice of magic. Quite a few wizards developed soul talents related to language or the arts. Of course, if one awakened an excellent soul talent, it could benefit them for life. Stein’s books recorded several stories of wizards with mediocre potential who managed to rise above their peers with the help of a rare soul talent.

Andy’s spiritual power began to emit a peculiar wave. The giant flaming tree in his mental space started to change, and a portal slowly emerged upon its surface. Andy touched it with his mind, and with a soft “whoosh,” the scene within his spiritual space transformed—he entered his innate talent space.

This space was boundless, as deep and distant as the night sky itself, with only two runes shining brilliantly. Andy was startled, then delighted. As far as he knew, only awakened soul talents would cause runes to light up in this space, and usually, a wizard had at most one such talent. Yet he had two—was this due to the merging of souls?

He focused on one of the soul talent runes, and a flood of information washed into his mind. As expected, it was a soul talent. Its name: “Enhanced Memory.”

For a wizard, this was a rather commonplace talent. As a wizard’s spiritual power increased, so did their memory and comprehension, and many wizards possessed this talent. While not as extraordinary as some rare gifts, near-photographic memory was still a tremendous aid for any wizard’s studies and research, especially for apprentices. Among wizards, this talent was widely known as “the apprentice’s friend.”

Andy sensed his own memories and found everything from his life on Earth vividly clear. Even events he had long forgotten resurfaced in his mind with perfect clarity.

“What a remarkable memory—worthy of being called the apprentice’s friend. I wonder what the other one is.” Andy focused on the second soul talent rune, but the feedback he received was: Unknown.

“Hmm… Unknown? Should I guess? Could it be some blinding, ultra-rare buff effect?” As soon as Andy thought this, the rune flickered and its name shifted from ‘Unknown’ to ‘Infinite Firepower.’

Seeing this name, Andy was inexplicably thrilled.

“Haha! With Infinite Firepower, I’ll never have to worry about practicing witchcraft again!”

He began practicing magic, casting “Ignition” after “Ignition” in rapid succession—no mana consumed, negligible cooldown. Practicing spells had never been so convenient.

Wizardry was more than simply constructing spell models—it required copious practice. Andy’s zero-level spells were still simple and easy to grasp, but once he advanced to level one, even after building the spell model, a novice’s success rate was low. Only through relentless practice could one gradually master a spell.

Spell mastery was divided into: Novice, Intermediate, Advanced, Expert, Master, and Grandmaster.

At Advanced mastery or above, a wizard could cast spells with nearly 100% reliability. Upon reaching Expert or higher, not only did spell power multiply, but various advantages emerged: faster casting, simpler incantations, reduced cooldowns, and so on.

Generally, wizards improved their mastery through repeated practice. It took hundreds of castings to advance from Novice to Intermediate, thousands to reach Advanced, and tens of thousands for Expert—each rank requiring ten times as much effort as the last.

Of course, some gifted wizards progressed faster, each of their practice sessions counting for several of an ordinary person’s, and some even experienced legendary breakthroughs in understanding.

Andy discovered, during his practice, that he was not exceptionally gifted in this regard, but with each “Ignition,” his mastery steadily improved: Intermediate, then Advanced, and after three hours of relentless casting—over ten thousand spells—he finally achieved Expert level.

If not for his Infinite Firepower, it would have been nearly impossible for any other apprentice to reach Expert level mastery.

Ordinary apprentices would be drained of all mana after casting just three zero-level spells, requiring an hour of meditation to recover. To reach Expert level would take 3,333 hours; even practicing non-stop day and night, it would take four to five months. Absorbing mana stones could accelerate recovery: one mana stone equaled the total mana of ten low-level apprentices. For “Ignition,” with a three-second cooldown, one could reach Expert level in about ten hours by spending 333 mana stones.

If any apprentice truly practiced this way, Stein would no doubt exclaim, “What a tycoon! Let’s be friends!”

And this was only for zero-level spells. Higher-level spells were even more demanding. Most wizards would practice their commonly used spells to Advanced level for reliability, reserving Expert-level mastery for trump cards or rare spells. Master and Grandmaster mastery levels were the domain of elite wizards possessing resources, temperament, and talent.

Andy’s hand nearly cramped from practicing “Ignition” to Expert level. Even so, as a zero-level spell, its power increase was modest, but its duration improved dramatically, and Andy felt as if he could command the flames with a thought.

He didn’t continue practicing after that. It was getting late, so he decided to return to his room to rest. Tomorrow, he would visit the Wizard Tower to study and learn new spells.

As for substituting sleep with meditation, Andy had tried once, only to end up with a sore back and cramping legs. He decided that a warm bed suited him better.

The next morning, Andy went to the Wizard Tower bright and early. He intended to ask Stein about talents and spell selection, but Stein seemed occupied with an important experiment. A “Do Not Disturb” sign hung on the laboratory door, which radiated faint magical energy—a clear sign of protective wards. Andy had no choice but to visit the tower’s library himself.

The library was open to all of Stein’s apprentices. Of course, it contained no secret meditation methods or spells, only introductory books, general knowledge, and some of Stein’s recorded insights.

Thus, Andy didn’t find instructions on constructing level one spell models. He would have to wait for Stein to finish his experiment before seeking advice.

Soon, however, Andy found a book detailing considerations for constructing spell models. He read with great interest.

The book explained that each rank of spellcaster had its limits. A Junior Apprentice’s spiritual power could support at most three zero-level spell models—any more, and the models would collapse under the strain. Upon reaching Intermediate Apprentice, one could learn three more zero-level and three level-one spells, for a maximum of three level-one and six zero-level spells. At Senior Apprentice level, one could learn three level-two, six level-one, and nine zero-level spells. With each advancement in spiritual power, three more spells of each level could be learned.

Of course, these were only the theoretical limits. Wizards didn’t always fill every slot; sometimes, mastering a single powerful spell was better than spreading oneself thin. Some wizards also awakened soul talents that increased their mental endurance, granting additional spell slots.

As Andy left the Wizard Tower, someone nearly crashed into him—a reckless youth. He stepped aside and saw it was the flamboyant Bill. Before Andy said a word, Bill tossed out, “Can’t you watch where you’re going?” and rushed up to the second floor.

“What a clown,” Andy remarked quietly, then left. There was no point lowering himself to that level for an argument, especially since he might not win without experience.

Normally, Bill would have taken the chance to mock the “loser” Andy, but today he had more important things to do. He wanted to test a discovery—a monumental breakthrough. He’d even ditched a date to pursue it.

Bill crept to the second floor of the Wizard Tower, glanced around furtively, and, seeing no one was watching, slipped into the room containing the Prague Question Chair.

“Please listen to the question!” The familiar voice rang out, but Bill’s heart was pounding in his chest. He cursed under his breath to steady himself.

“I’m listening! Out with it!” He tried to look nonchalant, crossing his legs and putting on an air of utter disdain.

“In a right-angled triangle magic array, the two legs are nine feet and twelve feet long. What is the length of the hypotenuse? Please answer… Beep!… Please answer!”

“Idiot!” Bill sneered.

“Incorrect answer. Initiating penalty mode.” As Prague emitted a sharp screech, a jolt of lightning shot from the chair into Bill’s body, leaving him convulsing and howling.

“Penalty complete. Please use the lift or continue answering questions.”

Shaking, Bill took out a crystal ball and infused it with spiritual power. Observing the faint orange glow, he muttered, “Not much effect. Continue the questions!”

“Please listen to the question…”

“Idiot!”

“Aaah!” Another round of electric punishment. Bill gritted his teeth, checked the crystal, and said, “Continue!”

“Please listen to the question…”

“Idiot!”

“Aaah… Continue!”

“Please listen to the question…”

“Idiot!”

“Aaah… Continue!”

After more than a dozen electric shocks, the orange light in Bill’s crystal ball finally thickened visibly. Snot running down his face, Bill laughed maniacally, convinced that soon he’d become a great wizard, marry a wealthy beauty, and ascend to the pinnacle of life and career.

“Again, again, a hundred more times!”

After a long while, Bill crawled out of the Question Chair room, his hair standing on end, his whole body charred black. He waved away a cat blocking his path, his body twitching spasmodically as he crawled along, muttering, “It really does increase spiritual power… it really does…”